When I am attempting to learn Thai, I had always wanted a physical keyboard that carries the Thai characters on them.
To get purchase this type of keyboard, the best is to buy it on your next trip to Thailand or to ask a favour from your friend who is going there to help buy for you.
However… the keyboard can be a bit bulky and it should be hand carried to avoid damage to the keyboard.
During my trip to Thailand in 2013, I bought a physical keyboard that is meant for usage with desktop PC. I got it from a large bookstore in Central Plaza Chiang Rai . With keyboard with Thai consonants, vowels and tone marks, it makes it so much easier to type sentences in Thai language.
The keyboard shown in the photo above can be bought for slightly less than 400 baht. And for this a free optical mouse is given. You can buy at IT center or a big book shop that sells IT products as well.
Note: Please ensure you buy the keyboard that uses USB port as the older versions may still use the old round port.
I replaced the keyboard of my office desktop PC with the one I bought above. In fact, the keyboard I got was better than quality of the keyboards in my office. The keyboard served me at work from 2013 to 2017 (I left my job in 2017 and of course took my keyboard back). I used it for so much of heavy typing almost daily and the keyboard is still in good condition.
Subsequently when my laptop (personal use) was showing signs of going bonkers, I also bought a laptop from Bangkok ….purely for the sake of the defaulted Thai keyboard. I paid more compared to if I was to buy it from Malaysia due to the currency conversion. But I got back my VAT refund from the airport.
This is what is the extend I would go through to learn Thai language.